Adjustable fireplace grate-basket.



PATENTED DEC. 12, 1905.

H. E. MOOMAW.

ADJUSTABLE FIREPLACE GRATE BASKET.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, 1905.

TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADJUSTABLE FIREPLACE GRATE-BASKET.

\ Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1905.

Application filed February 25, 1905. Serial No. 247,367.

To all whom, it 711,014 concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY E. MOOMAW, a citizen of the United Statesof America, and a resident of Chattanooga, county of Hamil ton, State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Fireplace Grate-Baskets, of which the following is a full and clear specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in Which Figure 1 is a front view of a fireplace provided with my improvementsyFig. 2, a perspective view of the grate-basket removed; Fig. 3, a transverse section on the dotted line 3, Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a perspective view of one of the adjustable hooks slightly modified; Fig. 5, a section on the line 5, Fig. 2-; and Figs. 6 and 7, detail views hereinafter described.

One object of this invention is to provide extremely inexpensive and durable means whereby the grate-basket-supporting hooks are rendered adjustable to differently-spaced lugs on the grate-frames, thereby avoiding the necessity of keeping in stock a variety of grate-baskets to fit the various makes of grateframes now manufactured, as more fully hereinafter described.

Another object of the invention is to render the body of the grate-basket longitudinally extensible, in order that it may be readily adj usted to suit grate-frames of different widths, thereby avoiding the necessity of keeping in stock a variety of grate-baskets to fit the various makes of grate-frames now on the market and in use.

Referring to the drawings by letters, Adesignates the fireplace or grate-frame, provided with the usual supporting-lugs a a, and B the grate-basket, provided at the upper end of each of its vertical side bars 6 with the usual integral hook d, adapted to engage over the upper lug a and support the basket. Attached to each side bar Z), just below hook d, is a supplemental hook e, which is adapted to engage over lower lug a and prevent the basket swinging outward. This hook is rendered vertically adjustable by being slidably mounted in a vertical slot 0 in the side bar of the gratebasket, so as to thereby render the gratebasket adaptable to grate-frames whose lugs are difierently spaced. Each hook 6 consists of a depending hook part and a forwardly-extending shank having a head G formed on its end. This head is elongated vertically and is grooved vertically along its sides, so as to fit the similarly-shaped inner walls of the slots in the side bars, the head being limited in its vertical movements by the closed ends of the slot. The grooves in the heads of the hooks are V shape in cross-section and the walls of the slots are correspondingly ribbed, so that the hooks shall not be displaceable backward or forward. This construction and arrangement of the adjustable hooks avoids the necessity of employing clamping-bolts. The hooks will slide somewhat freely in the slots; but no greater nicety of fit is required than can be obtained by the ordinary methods of casting articles of this sort. In order that the hooks may be inserted in their slots and also removed therefrom should occasion require, I enlarge laterally the lower end of each slot at f sufiiciently to enable the heads Gr to be passed therethrough to bring the grooves in their heads in vertical alinement with the V-shape walls of the slot. I close these enlarged openings by means of blocks g, which are clamped in their recesses by bolts la.

It will be seen that by simply sliding the supplemental hooks along their slots the gratebasket can be adapted to differently-spaced lugs on the grate-frame, a sufficiently wide range of adjustment being provided for to accommodate all the various grate-frames of this character in use. In view of this wide range of adjustability it will be necessary for dealers. to keep in stock but this one style of gratebasket and not a comparatively large supply of different makes to accommodate the various styles of grate-frames in use.

The modified form of hook shown in Fig. 4: has an upward-extending edge 9, which by reason of the looseness of fit in the slot and the tendency of the grate to swing outward will be caused to bite slightly against the rear or inner face of the side bars, and thereby tend to -prevent the hooks accidentally riding upward in the slots.

The basket B is made in two parts, so that it may be extended or shortened with a view of fitting fireplaces of different widths. This extensibility is secured by overlapping the rear bar of the bottom of the grate and the cross-bars of the front portion, these overlapping bars being correspondingly longitudinally slotted. Bolt 7L clamps the two sections of the rear bar of the bottom, and bolts m clamp the front bars of the basket in their adjusted positions. In order that the front of the grate may present the smooth-finished appearance of the ordinary grate, the front bars and the rear bar of one of the sections are shouldered at 70, as shown, so that the projections caused by the overlapping of the parts shall lie within the grate-basket. The ends of the front cross-bars are connected by vertical bars it" to strengthen the basket-sections. With a construction such as the foregoing the basket may be readily adjusted to suit fireplaces of different widths, thereby avoiding the necessity of keeping a large number of sizes in stock. In fact, by thus making the grate extensible and also providing it with adjustable hooks each grate will have a practically universal adjustability in that it may be adjusted to practically any modern grateframe on the market. \Nith the construction set forth it will be nearly always possible to so adjust the grate-basket sections with the grate-bars proper, Z, in alinement where the sections of the basket overlap, as shown, so that the proper draft shall not be interfered with. It will be observed, further, that all the bars Z are permanently attached to the lower front bar and the rear bar of the basket, so that the use of loose or detachable bars is entirely avoided.

In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the ribs and grooves are done away with and the opposite walls of the slot beveled somewhat, the grooves .in the head of the hook being made large enough to receive the beveled edges of the slot, these grooves forming flanges a which bear, respectively, on the front and rear faces of the vertical bar.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A grate-basket provided with side bars and a hook at each upper corner, said bars being vertically slotted below said hooks, and a down wardly'turned self-adjustinghook working vertically freely in each of said slots, each hook being provided with integral means for preventing it from swinging inward or outward.

2. A grate-basket provided with verticallyslotted side bars and a hook at each upper corner, a headed downwardly turned hook working freely in each of said slots so as to be self-adjusting, the side walls of the head of each hook being grooved for the reception of the adjacent walls of the slots, whereby the hooks are prevented from swinging inward and outward, and fastening-bolts are rendered unnecessary, for the purpose set forth.

ing vertically grooved for the reception of the walls'of the slots, the lower end of each of said slots being enlarged, for the purpose set forth.

4. A grate-basket provided with verticallyslotted side bars and a hook at each upper corner, one end of each of said slots being enlarged, a closure-piece inserted in said enlarged part of each slot, an adjustable hook slidably mounted in each of said slots and having a grooved head working in engagement with the inner walls of the slots.

5. A grate-basket for fireplaces, consisting of but two integral sections, each section comprising a corner-post provided with means for engaging the supporting-lugs of the fireplaceframe, front cross-bars connected to the post, the back cross-bar, the bottom bars Z connecting the back cross-bars to the lower one of the front cross-bars, and the vertical bars 1 0 connecting the ends of the front cross-bars, the ends of the front cross-bars and the back cross-bar being bent inward at k, whereby said two sections maybe overlapped at the middle of the grate-basket, the sections of the front cross-bars and the rear cross-bar being in alinement and the bottom bars Z being capable of being brought into alinement, and means for adjustably clamping the overlapping parts of the rear cross-bar and the front cross-bars together in their adjusted positions.

6. A grate-basket provided with side bars and a hook at each upper corner, said bars being vertically slotted below said hooks, and a down wardly-turned self-adj usting hook working freely in each of said slots, each hook being provided with integral means for preventing it from swinging inward or outward, and with an upward-extending biting edge 9" adapted to engage the adjacent face of the side bar.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature. in the presence of two witnesses, this 22d day of February, 1905.

HENRY E. MOOMAW.

Witnesses:

J. F. GREEN, J. WV. ARTEHERY. 

